THE MOONWALKERS

Some 40 years back, Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin fulfilled a goal of US president John F. Kennedy, who stated in a joint session of the Congress on May 25, 1961, "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth". True to his word, 8 years later man landed on the moon. This article is a tribute to the best 'moonwalkers' there have ever been.

NEIL ARMSTRONG - The first man to land on the moon also said one of the most famous quotes of the twentieth century, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind". He promised us the moon and kept his word. His feat is remembered as the pinnacle of scientific progress.

EDWIN "Buzz" ALDRIN - The second man to step foot on the moon, he is not too impressed by the recent US plans for a moon mission. "America to Mars is what ought to be, not America back to the moon", derided Buzz Aldrin. According to National Geographic, he is the first person to pee on the moon! Inspite of his quaintness, he remains a paradigm of human endeavour.

MICHAEL JACKSON - The king of pop, the single man who rejuvenated a dying music industry, the person who wowed the world with his legendary "moonwalks", the most famous/well known music artist in the world... Michael Jackson was the most complete dancer of this century, and an entertainer non pareil. He is a moonwalker in his own terms. Aaawwww!

12 ANGRY MEN - Between 1969 and 1972, five more NASA missions landed on the moon, giving a total of 12 people the chance to walk, run and even golf on the lunar surface. Pete Conrad became the first man to officially "dance" on the moon. And MJ did the moon walk on Earth. Talk about similarities! Man's fascination to grab the moon mysteriously waned. Inspite of much advanced technologies and facilities, no one has landed on the moon since 1972. The original 12 moonwalkers are forever etched in history.

TINTIN & GANG - Tintin, Captain Haddock, Snowy, Professor Calculus, the Thomson twins and Joylon Wagg gave us the first ever moon adventure through a comic book, many years before Armstrong and co. did it in reality. What's amazing about this book (Tintin- Destination Moon and Explorers on the Moon) is that every technical detail had been thought of, and it was very similar to how the Apollo mission was conducted. The adventures of an intrepid boy reporter Tintin have continued to fascinate readers decades after it first appeared. The moon adventure was one of his best books- Hergé (the creator of Tintin) gave us a glimpse of the moon to the readers much in advance of the actual mission. Tintin remains, the first fictional character to land on the moon.

On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first human to step foot on the moon. The 40th anniversary of the moon landing was celebrated a few days back, but it was not without drama. NASA revealed that it lost its original tapes of the moon landing, probably erased! NASA and a Hollywood film restoration company (Lowry Digital) took television video copies of what Apollo 11 beamed to Earth 40 years ago and made the pictures look sharper. This fueled the fire of conspiracy theorists who contended that the whole episode was fake. Conspiracy theorists had created quite a furore, especially given that it was the finest achievement of science. Rebuttals and counter rebuttals were exchanged. On the 40th anniversary of the moon landings recently, National Geographic released an article with a view to bury the dissenting voices. You can see for yourself HERE. Nonetheless, lets stick to the official version maintained by NASA.

Moon landings and space exploration remain one of mankind's finest moments. Moon and space explorations stand out as the most important landmark in the endless list of scientific achievements, and we can now wait for a manned mission to Mars.


Picture copyright: NASA, for the picture of Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin